Clutch-operating mechanism.



S. E. SCHHOEDER,

CLU'ICH OPERAYING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8,1914- Patentvd May 29, 1917.

Sis

snroisr a. sononnnn, or immm, rumors.

CLUTCH-OPERATE G MECHANISM.

1'0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, SIMON E. Sonnonnnn, citizen of the United States, residing at Minier, in the county of Tazewell and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Olutch0prat1ng Mechanism; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it apper tains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to clutch operating mechanism and articularly to means for shifting a clutch. into engagement with one or more operating mem s, and still more particularly to retracting or withdrawing the clutch from one of Sci members, utihung the operating ordrlving power and the rotation of the clutchfor the disengagin act.

heobject of' the invention, therefore, 15

to provide a shif table clutch member of a structure such that a gagement with it wil drawn from the part with which it is in engagement by utilizing the operating power which drives the mechanism while the" latter ipart brought into en- T is in rotation.

So far as my knowledge extends it has been customary to shift a clutch from engagement with a companion part by hand requiring structures by which considerable leverage can be obtained for that act. It is an easy matter .to shift the clutch into engagement with a rotating part since there is no friction to prevent free movement but when the clutch and a rotatin part are in enga ment, one driving the 0 er, the friction tween them is usually'so great as to prevent easy disengagement by hand. In view of this I have devised means'for withdrawing a clutch from a companion art by'makmg use of the operating power uring the rotation of the parts as explamed above.

In certain t es of machines the hand lever for operating a clutch is bulky and therefore requires considerable space and is often in the way of a worker and this has ledto the revision of some means less bulky, in addition to the other reasons already stated above. 4

In the accompanaying drawing I have shown my'invention as applied to a wringer structure to which it is particularly adapted Specification of Letters Patent.

Application fled Janet, 1914. Serial No. 848,818.

cause it to be with-- Patented May 29, 1917.

and to show its application but it is to be understood I may use the invention on other types of structures where a clutch is employed. I

Figure 1 is an elevation of a frame for carryin the rolls of a wringer showing part of the rame in section and my invention in connection therewith.

Fig. 2 shows a part of the structure of Fi 1 on a' much lar er scale, and,

ig. 3 shows a mo ified form of'the invention.

Fig. 4 shows a modified form of a clutch.

A represents a framewhich may besupported on a suitable standard B a part only of which is shown. C is a shaft journa'led in the frame A and provided in the present instance with a wringer-roll D outside the frame, there being a spur gear E on the shaft in mesh witha similar gear of a second wringer roll G mounted in a part of said frame.

I merely describe the wringer rolls to show the adaptation of my invention to a power driven part, it .being evident that other mechanism may be used as well in conn'ec tion with the invention to be described.

The'shaft G carries any usual pair of spaced oppositely facing beveled gears H J mounted to freelyrotate thereon. L is a similar gear engaging both the gears H J and aflixed to a shaft K to which transmitted through the standard M reptresents a clutch sleeve mounted on the she 0 between the gears H J to rotate with said shaft but slidable along the same there being a key seat N in the latter and a feather 0 carried by said clutch sleeve. The ends of the latter and the gears H J are constructed so as toengage one another. For example, the said sleeve has extended portions 0 and the hubs of the gears have ower is recesses P to receive them. .However, any

other means of driving engagement may be used. The surface of the sleeve is provided with a spiral groove Q the purpose of which will appear presently.

Extending through the frame A toward ,the clutch-sleeve is' a pin R whose end limit the extent of outward movement imparted to said pin.

v by a relatively stationary part resu Extendin through the frame A at o posite sides 0 the pin is a lever'T in the orm of a bell-crank. Each is pivoted to the frame A, there being suitable openings through the latter through which one of the arms of each lever extends and adapted to bear against the ends of the sleeve. The arms outside of the frame preferably extend in opposite directions substantially as shown. The inner arms normally lie against the ends of the sleeve as shown in- Fig. I and pressure upon the outer end of either results in shifting the sleeve into engagement with one or the other of the gears as will be more fully explained in connection with the operation.

As shown in Fig. 1, the clutch sleeve is in its neutral position or midway between the gears. Power applied to the shaft K toward the left or in the direction indicated by the arrow, will turn the ear L in that direction and'the gear H will rotate in the 'direction of the arrow or downward as seen in the drawing; while the gear J will rotate in the opposite direction or upward. Now,

by' placlng pressure upon one of the lever arms T, for"example the one at the right, the clutch sleeve will be shifted toward the left into engagement with the rotating gear H which in rotating the clutch drives the shaft C and the wringer roll D in the same direction. When it is desired to withdraw the clutch pressure is placed upon the pin R pushingit into the spiral groove Q. As the pin is held from lateral movement, the sleeve in its rotation, due to the side walls of the groove bearing againstsaid pin, is moved along the shaft and withdrawn from enga ement.

It .18 evident berallowed to have lateral movement it would travel within the groove but since the pin is fixed in respect tolateral movement the clutch sleeve must move instead.

And it is thus observed that the rotation" of a part provided with a spiral engaged. ts in the disengaging act, the action, of-course, bein absolutely positive. When the arts are isengaged t e rotation of thee utch sleeve is instantly terminated since there is no further driving engagement.

To reverse the direction of rotation the opposite lever T is depressed thereby1 moving the clutch-sleeve to the ri ht, t e disengaging action being accomp lshed in the same manner as before. In the present instance the s iral groove corresponds to a right-hand t read whereby by the engage -men,t ofthe described pin R therewith the sleeve will be moved away from H, the latter I always rotating in a single given direction.

And because of the fact that the sleeve that if the pin were a mem- Fig. 2 shows portions of what is illustr'ated in Fig. 1 on a larger scale. This merely indicates the positions of the levers T when the clutch sleeve is shifted to one of its extreme positions.

- In Fig. 3 I have shown a modified form of the invention most of the arts corresponding tothose in Fig. 1 and designated by the same reference letters.

In addition to these parts I show a small hand lever U pivoted to a part of the frame A, directly above the pin R, this arrangement being employed where space is of no particular moment. The pin is shown in engagement with the groove Q, having been depressed by the lever U which extends below-its supporting pivot and is adapted when engaging the head of the pin to oc-- to depress its respective lever T depending.

upon the direction in which the lever is thrown. The clutch sleeve in Fig. 3 is in the act of being withdrawn from .the gear H due to the depressed pin. By moving the lever U to the left after the disengagement of the sleeve and the gear H, lever T at the left will be depressed by the arm extension V at that side and move the clutch sleeve toward and into engagement with the gear J and an .opposite movement of the lever will produce the opposite result. In this form of the'invention the operator produces the required operations bythe manipulation of the one lever U and is enabled to shift the'clut'ch in either direction or cause the withdrawal of the clutch to stop operation of the parts whereas Figs. 1 and 2 the operator-is required to place the fin er upon the pinR; or -to operate either of t e levers ,T according to t e action it is desired to produce.

Various chan 5 may be made in the structure throug out such as will lie within the invention and the meaning of the claims and 1t is evident that the clutch ma be used to engagebut a single part H or J and not 1,227,sas

necessaril engage both parts or opposite parts H it being the intent of the invention to provide, a pair of members that can be moved into engagement with one another, one having a spiral groove or equivalent means for connecting two machine elements in driving relation and'then by the simple engagement of a part with the ooved member cause the movement of the atter and the disengagement of the two elements.

The shaft C may be the driving portion and either of the gears H J the members through Which the driving power from the clutch is to be communicated to the gear L.

In this event the clutch could then be furnished with separate right and left hand grooves S and S see Fig. 4, either of which could be engaged by the pin to effeet the movement of the clutch in either "direction, both grooves terminating in a common groove 8. But this lies within the spirit of the invention and the meaning of the claims.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination of a pair of driving members having clutch members, a companion clutch member for engagement with either of the clutch members of the driving members, said companion clutch member being provided with a spiral guide, means to effect engagement of the companion clutch. member with either of the clutch members and means engaging the s iral guide to effect a disengagement of the companion clutch member with either of the clutch members.

2. The combination of a pair of driving 'members having clutch members, a companion clutch member for engagement with either of the clutch members of the driven members, said companion clutch member beillilig provided with a spiral guide, means to e, ect engagement of the companion clutch member with either of the clutch members, means engaging the spiral guide to eflfect a disengagement of the companion clutch member with the clutch members and controlling means for effecting the operation of the engaging and disengaging means of the clutch members.

3. In combination, a driven shaft, a driven clutch member rotatable therewith and shiftable lengthwise thereof, a spiral member thereabout, a pair of driving members normally loose on said shaft and disposed at opposite ends of said shiftable clutch member, and each provided'with a clutch part, a member fixed relative to the movement of the shiftable clutch member on said shaft and. normally in clearance thereof but depressible to engage the spiral member, operable when depressed through engagement with the spiral to release the engagement of said member with either of the driving members, and means independent of said depressible member to move said driven clutch member into engagement with either of said driving members.

In testimon whereof I afiix my signature, in presence 0 two witnesses. 

